Documentary Still Life Photographers

During a seminar with Jill that introduced us to documentary in still life photography, we were shown  different photographers who are considered to be in this genre. We looked at a number of photographer but the following three are the ones that stood out to me the most. Looking at photographers helped me realise what to look for and what I could photograph in this mini assignment and understand it more. 

Raphael Dallaporter. 

French Photographer, Raphael photographed land mines in a project called "Antipersonnel" taken in 2004, that were found from all over the world from different wars and conflicts. They were captured simply on a black background which looks to be studio light. The objects used do not seem to personal in anyway, but when thought about it the way the have effected people over the years since their invention, they have killed millions of people. Also the fact they are made to destroy areas of land that involves killing people gives it context alone. After reading about the project on his website and looking at the images in more detail, it became clear to me how different land mines can be in their appearence and in this case Dallaporter has made them look strangely intriguing and beautiful. At first glance I had no idea what the objects were but after being told it made send. I think Dallaporter has succeeded in this project in how the context and meaning of his series speaks out and is clear to see with an explanation. He also achieves this in how simple he has shot the land mines, making them simple and all about the object themselves, not focusing it on anything else. 

screenshot of the project from Raphael Dallaporters website.

Stephen Gill.

Stephen Gill's work, similar to Raphael Dallaporters in the fact on each photograph focuses on one object and features the same type of objects throughout the series. Gill's project "A series of disappointments features each black and white image of a betting slip, folded or scrunched up in the way of the person it belongs too made it to be that way. I really enjoyed looking at this piece of work in the seminar and found it to be my favourite of all the photographers we looked at because of its simplicity, but context behind it. The photographs are all folded in different ways and all feature different inscriptions of whatever bet was placed by the individual, which to me indicates an indication of the persons personality. Below are three of the images from the series.

Narelle Autio

Narelle Autio's work also stood out to me as being similar to the two above, as it is also one object in each image on a plain white background, presenting a simple appearance. "The Summer of Us" series captured in 2000, won Autio a number of prizes and exhibitions. The full set of images are object's that she found on the Australian coastline, supposing to represent Australian life by the sea. A lot of people who lived similar to her when this was captured, could relate to the series and it is easy to see why. With every day objects that people come across in their homes and on the beach. I am not as fond of this set that what I have seen from the other photographs from above, because I feel it is quite amateur and something I have seen before, however I do think it represents documentary still life very well and it's context seem's important to Narelle and those who have viewed it.